32 Clear Skies and Cloudy. 



little brook is at once a braver feature of the 

 landscape. I have often wondered why winter 

 landscapes are more popular on canvas than in 

 real life. Strange misconceptions of the world 

 in winter are everywhere prevalent. The win- 

 ter sunrise has a more brilliant array of colors 

 than a summer sunset, and winter sunsets lose 

 much by being seen through a window. The 

 clearer air, the snowy foreground, the inter- 

 lacing of leafless branches, through which we 

 look, all add their mite to the glory of the close 

 of day. And when, at last, as you turn your 

 steps homeward, you hear a song-sparrow trill 

 lightly as it is perched on the frozen twig, and 

 perhaps see it firmly outlined against an illumi- 

 nated background, as I did to-day, you will feel 

 that to trace the meadow brook, though icy- 

 cold the air, is not merely to brave the rigors 

 of winter, but to be one with earnest life that 

 can teach us many a useful lesson, if so be we 

 are willing to be taught. 



